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Some of the skills that special education students learn in the Life Skills Apartment program in Crookston are related to money. They learn about personal finance, how to pay bills, how to open a checking or savings account...things like that.
Well, this spring, they might learn another financial lesson, a painful one: As part of the school district's plan to cut the 2010-11 budget by around $1.5 million, the program is in line to be eliminated, saving the district about $42,000 in the process.
As the Crookston School Board often does as its meetings, various programs are invited to speak as part of the "featured program" on the agenda. Representatives of the Life Skills Apartment program, housed above Crookston Paint & Glass in downtown Crookston since 2004, were invited to highlight their program at the board's meeting this past Monday. Judy Rud, who runs the program, said she had "no clue" on Monday that, two days later, the program would be included in the initial reduction package.
"I'd been told they'd try to keep it and we were asked to talk about it Monday," she said later Wednesday. "I was kind of surprised when I saw the list, to say the least."
The program has served at least 20 students since moving to the downtown apartment, Rud said.
It's the off-campus location that makes the Crookston program fairly unique, and also, she believes, so successful.
"The apartment is the best way because it's so hands-on, so real-world," explained Rud, who's been teaching since 1973. "We tried it in a classroom at the old high school but the impact was less. Being out of the actual school, the students' mindset changes; they really start thinking about their futures."
Crookston students have taken advantage of the program, she said, as have students from Fisher, Climax and Norman County East. One of the Crookston High School students, Bill Erickson, told the board Monday that he knows now how to buy groceries, cook his own meals, and that, as part of the Life Skills program's work component, he also vacuums the halls of the apartment building and packages food at North Country Food Bank for the food-for-school-backpacks initiative.
"I am happy I have learned some new skills," Erickson said.
Bill Mulligan co-teaches with Rud at the apartment. The "life career" curriculum is designed, he said, to help the students, in adulthood, function independently as successful citizens and productive workers. The curriculum, which involves their parents, too, focuses on daily living skills, social skills, work/occupation skills, health and safety skills, personal finance management, personal skills and citizenship skills. As part of that, he said, the students develop self-awareness, self-confidence and personal responsibility. They become better communicators and better decision-makers.
Some of the skills that special education students learn in the Life Skills Apartment program in Crookston are related to money. They learn about personal finance, how to pay bills, how to open a checking or savings account...things like that.
Well, this spring, they might learn another financial lesson, a painful one: As part of the school district's plan to cut the 2010-11 budget by around $1.5 million, the program is in line to be eliminated, saving the district about $42,000 in the process.
As the Crookston School Board often does as its meetings, various programs are invited to speak as part of the "featured program" on the agenda. Representatives of the Life Skills Apartment program, housed above Crookston Paint & Glass in downtown Crookston since 2004, were invited to highlight their program at the board's meeting this past Monday. Judy Rud, who runs the program, said she had "no clue" on Monday that, two days later, the program would be included in the initial reduction package.
"I'd been told they'd try to keep it and we were asked to talk about it Monday," she said later Wednesday. "I was kind of surprised when I saw the list, to say the least."
The program has served at least 20 students since moving to the downtown apartment, Rud said.
It's the off-campus location that makes the Crookston program fairly unique, and also, she believes, so successful.
"The apartment is the best way because it's so hands-on, so real-world," explained Rud, who's been teaching since 1973. "We tried it in a classroom at the old high school but the impact was less. Being out of the actual school, the students' mindset changes; they really start thinking about their futures."
Crookston students have taken advantage of the program, she said, as have students from Fisher, Climax and Norman County East. One of the Crookston High School students, Bill Erickson, told the board Monday that he knows now how to buy groceries, cook his own meals, and that, as part of the Life Skills program's work component, he also vacuums the halls of the apartment building and packages food at North Country Food Bank for the food-for-school-backpacks initiative.
"I am happy I have learned some new skills," Erickson said.
Bill Mulligan co-teaches with Rud at the apartment. The "life career" curriculum is designed, he said, to help the students, in adulthood, function independently as successful citizens and productive workers. The curriculum, which involves their parents, too, focuses on daily living skills, social skills, work/occupation skills, health and safety skills, personal finance management, personal skills and citizenship skills. As part of that, he said, the students develop self-awareness, self-confidence and personal responsibility. They become better communicators and better decision-makers.
"We're giving students the skills necessary to be independent in their lives as much as possible," Mulligan said.
And, Rud added, "It's a beautiful thing to see when it works."
She often comes across former students working in the community at various jobs, which they've not only learned to attain, but keep by being productive, quality workers. "It's so rewarding to see," Rud said. "They've learned to follow directions, they've learned what it means to be on time...skills that most of us take for granted."
It's rarely easy, she added. Some students are more disabled than others, or are burdened by "more issues" than others. But when they are engaged in a meaningful conversation about their future, sometimes she can almost literally see the light bulb appear above their heads. "They start thinking about their life and their future," Rud said. "And then they get it. They'll say, 'I know what I'm doing now!' and that's what it's all about."
Obviously, with such a big budget reduction target, Rud was nervous that the Life Skills Apartment might be in a precarious position. "I guess on Monday, that wasn't just a presentation on what we do, it was our pitch to spare it," she said. "I think this program is best for these kids, and that's what I always go back to, what's best for the kids. These special ed kids...we really have to take extra care and watch out for them. Helping them has been my passion my whole life."
